Strike news from your Corrections Bargaining Team
April 23, 2002
“When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.” - Mark Twain
Union lifts media blackout to boost drive for settlement
Talks hit a brick wall
The employer continues to refuse to recognize and negotiate with your Corrections Bargaining Team. The Corrections Bargaining Team has had enough of the employer’s non-negotiating tactics.
“The employer has not moved forward one inch from the position they gave to us on March 10, 2002,” said Barry Scanlon, Chair, Corrections Bargaining Team. “We are not walking away from the table. Even though they haven’t bargained with us for one minute, we are ready and willing to strike a deal. Our members in
Corrections have done exceedingly well in taking on a tough employer. The cracks in the employer’s wall that started in the first week of the strike are getting bigger everyday. It’s just a matter of time before the wall crumbles.”
Here’s what the employer thinks you deserve:
· Wage Offer: 1.95 per cent for each of 3 years - Garbage!
· MERC/Health & Safety Improvements: offer of a subcommittee - Garbage!
· Unclassified Issues: Nothing!
· Pension improvements: Nothing!
“As more managers are hospitalized, more keys and knives are lost and unaccounted for and more escapes occur, management-run institutions are due for a large disaster,” Scanlon said. “Will that get the attention of the decision makers? It will happen sooner rather than later.”
Quotes from your team members
“This employer doesn’t know the meaning of the word negotiate. Instead, they seek to dictate. Dictators always get a beating in the end.”
Jim Bothwell, Corrections Bargaining Team member
“Our members are tired of being pushed around, and they do their best in conditions that would horrify those unfamiliar with corrections. We will not be ignored.”
Larry Cripps, Corrections Bargaining Team member
“The truth is the employer walked away from the table or more accurately, they never showed up. We hope that Ernie Eves will tell his bureaucrats to get serious!”
Rick Dagenais, Corrections Bargaining Team member
“Kevin Wilson and Malcolm Smeaton, Management Board’s chief negotiations bureaucrats, have shown nothing but contempt and disrespect for our members. If Eves wants to prove that he is ‘kinder and gentler’, now is the time.”
Dave Graves, Vice-Chair, Corrections Bargaining Team member
“All throughout this process the employer’s team has been stating that they are here to get a deal. It is now apparent that that statement is far from the truth. There has been absolutely no desire on their part to bargain in any meaningful way whatsoever.”
Jack Hopkins, Corrections Bargaining Team member
“Our members resolve just got stronger. This is no longer a strike but a rebellion!”
Mark Kotanen, Corrections Rep. and Vice-Chair of the Central Bargaining Team
“The uncommon cents revolution is still alive and kicking. The holdovers from the Mike Harris regime are showing nothing but disdain for their workers and the citizens of Ontario.”
Len Mason, Corrections Bargaining Team member
Management-run institutions escape count last week:
Owen Sound Jail - 2 inmates
Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre - 1 inmate
P&P articles wanted
Please send in any articles you may want to share with your sisters and brothers in the corrections category.
The team receives many e-mails from P & P but not much information is trickling in on picket line activities.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Len Mason, editor, The Burn Barrel
Call for assistance
Bob Kerr, from Local 128 (Sarnia Jail), requests assistance from locals with a heart:
“One of our members, Mike McFarlan, is in Florida with his critically ill daughter Stacy. Stacy is in ICU at an Orlando hospital. Stacy is 13 years old, and has Cystic Fibrosis. Stacy has been there for two weeks. Mike is in Florida with his three other children and has exhausted all his money.
“The family was given the trip by the Cystic Fibrosis Society.
“We have raised some money for the family, but it’s not enough. I had people signing over their entire strike pay! On Wednesday we are having a fund raising BBQ at the Sarnia Jail. Anybody in the area is invited to attend. I know times are hard. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated.”
Please send donations to:
Bob Kerr, Local 128
P.O. Box 306, Sarnia, Ontario N7T 7J2
1-519-869-6698 or 1-519-383-6125
IMPORTANT! Send us the information!
Please send all pertinent information regarding significant local incidents, reprisal complaints, work refusals, illegal lockouts, and health and safety appeals, as well as discipline and/or suspensions, to both:
Sue Philpott
Koskie/Minsky - Barristers & Solicitors
Phone: (416) 977-8353 ext. 2104
Fax: (416) 204-2882
and:
The Corrections Bargaining Team
Fax: (416) 815-1412
ESA Questions & Answers
Attention members:
Please call the OPSEU Central Mob Room at 1-877-561-8692 with your questions around Essential Services Agreements and arbitrated awards. Your bargaining team is very busy strategizing and are not always available at the bargaining centre.
Inquiries may be referred to other areas that can deal with specific issues around your questions.
Corrections team members
Region 1: Jack Hopkins, L. 122
Region 2: Barry Scanlon, L. 230 (chair)
Region 3: Larry Cripps, L. 309
Region 4: Jim Bothwell, L. 467
Region 5: Dave Graves, L. 521 (vice-chair)
Region 6: Rick Dagenais, L. 642
Region 7: Len Mason, L. 737
You can reach the bargaining team at (416) 815-0284 or by e-mail at correctionsteam@opseu.org.
The Burn Barrel will be available by fax, by e-mail, and on the OPSEU web site at www.opseu.org . To receive it directly, send your secure fax number to Lesley Williams at (416) 443-1762 or send your e-mail address to
lwilliams@opseu.org.
The Burn Barrel is authorized for distribution by Barry Scanlon, chair, Corrections Bargaining Team, and Leah Casselman, president.
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